Method and apparatus for creating a network audit report

ABSTRACT

A method and system for auditing an optical network to identify malfunctioning network elements and to generate a report which would allow skilled personnel to quickly and effectively identify areas of functionality of a deployed network element that is operating incorrectly by reading through the report. The method involves reading a network element data file and comparing parameters of the file represented by a network interface command line of the file with specified parameters to determine if the network element is operating within valid operating ranges; determining which parameters of the network interface command line are outside valid operating ranges; creating a network element findings file for findings of parameters of the network interface command line which are outside valid operating ranges; and repeating the foregoing steps for data files of all network elements in the network.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to optical networks. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatusfor auditing the network to identify the operational parameters ofnetwork elements and create an audit report.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An optical network consists of a number of interconnected elementsoperating in the synchronous optical network (SONET) layer and opticallayer of the network, all of which must be operating correctly andwithin valid operating parameters. It is especially important that allelements be operating correctly before performing a software upgrade ornetwork reconfiguration. This requires that an audit be performed uponeach of the elements in the network.

Creating a network audit report comprises three major processes. Thefirst of these processes typically involves the gathering of networkelement information by capturing network element information files fromthe command line user interface (CLUI) of each element. The secondinvolves the evaluation of the captured network element informationfiles to determine if “findings”—i.e. elements which are outside validoperating parameters—have occurred due to performance or configurationissues. The final process calls for the findings to be recorded in aformal report that lists the findings, a probable cause, and correctiveprocedures. The formal network audit report, upon completion, issubmitted to the customer.

A serious problem arises in the second process, namely, the evaluationof the captured network element information files. An experiencedengineer familiar with all operating aspects of the network element'sconfiguration and software load can spend upwards of 40 minutesanalyzing the data to determine if a network element is operating withinproperly configured bounds and a typical network may contain 30 to 40elements.

One approach to addressing this problem is the Preside™ Software UpgradeManagement tool of Nortel Networks Corporation. This utility performs apre-check of the network element s before attempting to perform softwareupgrade or network reconfiguration. However, the Preside™ tool onlyperforms three checks on the network element and only identifies that aproblem exists, not the reason or cause of the problem. It also requiresexperienced personnel to then troubleshoot the network element todetermine what the problem is, which may require three to four hours tocompletely evaluate a network of 30 to 40 nodes. It further requires anIP address and uses TCP/IP as its means of communicating with thenetwork elements, whereas personnel troubleshooting a network elementtypically use a modem connection in order to access the network element.Moreover, most network elements do not have an IP address, making theminvisible to Preside™. Furthermore, since more than one operationscontroller can control the network elements in a network, Preside™ mustdiscover what span of control each operations controller has and whetheror not the network element is within that operations controller's spanof control, if TCP/IP is to be used to communicate to the networkelement through the operations controller.

It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method of auditing a network toidentify the operational parameters of network elements, particularlymalfunctioning network elements, and to generate a report which allowsskilled personnel to quickly and effectively identify areas offunctionality of a deployed network element that is operatingincorrectly by reading through the report. This could then be used todetermine if the network elements that make up a network's topology areready for a network reconfiguration or upgrade. If any of the networkelements are identified as having a “finding” then those networkelements are evaluated and corrective measures effected before asoftware upgrade or network reconfiguration is executed. Otherwise, thesoftware upgrade or network reconfiguration can fail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at leastone disadvantage of previous systems and methods for auditing opticalnetworks. In particular, it is an object of the present invention toautomate an auditing function, and to generate a report that identifiesmalfunctioning network elements in a readily understandable format.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method of auditingan optical communications network to determine operational states ofnetwork elements. The method consists of first retrieving operationaldata from a plurality of network elements. The data can be retrieved bypolling the network elements via a serial connection, using, forexample, a modem, or by accessing static data capture files. Next, theoperational data is evaluated to determine an operational parameter fora given network element. In a presently preferred embodiment, theoperational data is evaluated by processing network interface commandlines within data capture files. If the operational parameter isdetermined to be invalid, it is flagged as an invalid operationalparameter. To determine if the operational parameter is invalid, it canbe compared to predetermined operational specifications for the givennetwork element. If the operational parameter falls outside apredetermined operating range, it is considered invalid. The evaluationand determination steps are repeated for all operational parametersrelated to the given network element, and then again for each remainingnetwork element. Once the evaluation is completed, a findings report isgenerated. The findings report lists any of the plurality of networkelements determined to have at least one invalid operational parameter,displays details of each invalid operational parameter, and provides afinding status for each invalid operational parameter.

In a further aspect, there is provided a method of auditing asynchronous optical network to identify malfunctioning network elements,and a computer program product embodying the method. The methodcommences with entering a directory location for network element datafiles. The network element data file for a given network element is thenretrieved from the directory location, and verified as valid. The validfile is then opened and a network interface command line is read. If thenetwork interface command line is valid, it is processed to determine ifoperational parameters for the given network element are outside validpredetermined operating ranges. Any operational parameters so determinedare flagged and stored in a network element findings file. These stepsare repeated for each network element, and a summary findings file iscreated that encapsulates the network element findings files to providea report listing any of the plurality of network elements determined tohave findings, displaying details of the findings, and providing afinding status for each finding. A computer program product, residing ona computer useable medium and embodying this method is also provided.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a computer programproduct, residing on a computer-useable medium, for auditing an opticalcommunications network to determine operational states of networkelements. The computer program product includes a data capture modulestored on the computer-useable medium for retrieving operational datafrom a plurality of network elements via a serial connection, and forstoring the operational data in data capture files. An evaluation moduleis communicatively coupled to the data capture module. The evaluationmodule evaluates the operational data to determine operationalparameters for the plurality of network elements, determines if thedetermined operational parameters are invalid, and flags the invalidoperational parameters. A reporting module communicatively coupled tothe evaluation module generates a findings report for the plurality ofnetwork elements. The findings report lists any of the plurality ofnetwork elements determined to have at least one invalid operationalparameter, displays details of the at least one invalid operationalparameter, and provides a finding status for the at least one invalidoperational parameter.

In still a further aspect, the present invention provides an auditor forauditing an optical communications network to determine operationalstates of network elements. The auditor consists of a serial connectionfor communicating with a plurality of network elements in an opticalcommunications network, and a data capture module for retrievingoperational data from the plurality of network elements via the modem.The data capture module also stores the operational data in data capturefiles. An evaluation module evaluates the operational data to determineoperational parameters for the plurality of network elements, and todetermine if the determined operational parameters are invalid. If theoperational parameters are invalid, they are flagged. A reporting modulecan then generate a findings report for the plurality of networkelements. The findings report lists any of the plurality of networkelements determined to have at least one invalid operational parameter,displays details of the at least one invalid operational parameter, andprovides a finding status for the at least one invalid operationalparameter.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentto those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical communications network showingtypical SONET and optical layer elements, connected to an auditor of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the method of the present invention;and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, the present invention provides a method and system forauditing an optical communications network, at the SONET and opticallayers. An auditor, embodied in a software application, queries, orpolls, each network element using a modem connection to collect datarelated to each element, determines if each element is operating withinexpected operational parameters, and creates a report that permits auser to view the operational parameters associated with each networkelement, and identify those elements that may be malfunctioning.Preferably, the auditor examines all the data that is present for eachnetwork element, judges the data as valid or invalid, and generates areport, or summary, that indicates those instances where a networkelement's operational parameters are judged to be invalid. A user isthen able to study the audit report to determine which network elementsare not performing as expected. The auditor of the present invention isintended to operate on all network elements that are running softwareloads and to determine if an element is operating within establishedparameters based on the specifications provided for each given softwarerelease. While the invention is described herein in terms of SONETelements and optical network elements, it will be understood by those ofskill in the art that present invention can be applied to other networkelement types that have software loads and can be polled remotely, orcan download their operational data or operational parameters toreadable data structures.

FIG. 1 shows a typical optical communications network 20, includingSONET network elements 22, and optical elements 24 that transportsignals at the optical layer. An auditor 26 according to the presentinvention, is in communication with the optical communications network20 via a serial connection, such as a modem connection. The SONETelements 22 can include regenerators, add/drop multiplexers (ADMs), lineterminating equipment, dense regenerators, 4-fiber ring (4FR) ADMs, TMuxnetwork elements, etc. The optical elements 24 can include opticalamplifiers, optical switches, etc.

In a presently preferred embodiment, the auditor 26 is a command linedriven application program that can be run from an Xterm window or a DOSshell prompt. The auditor 26 is embodied as software residing on ageneral purpose, or other suitable, computer having memory means, amodem connection to a desired optical network, and standard peripheralssuch as a monitor, a printer, and input and output devices. The softwareembodying auditor 26 can be provided on any suitable computer-useablemedium for execution by the computer, such as CD-ROM, hard disk,read-only memory, or random access memory. In a presently preferredembodiment, the application software is written in a suitableprogramming language, such as C++. Auditor 26 generally consists of adata capture module 28, an evaluation module 30, and a reporting module32, the operation and interaction of which are described below.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the general operation of the auditor 26 isshown. At step 100, the auditor 26 retrieves data concerning theoperational parameters of network elements in a network of interest. Thedata can be captured directly by polling the network elements and thecaptured information stored in a data capture file, or it can beretrieved from static data capture files stored in a main networkadministrative directory location. The static data capture files aretypically downloaded to the main administrative directory location atregular intervals, e.g. daily. The auditor 26 can, if desired, verifythat the data capture files are of a valid type before continuing.

At step 102, the auditor 26 opens the data capture file for a givennetwork element and reads it. While reading the network element datacapture file, the auditor 26 determines if the line read is a validnetwork element command line instruction. If the line read is a validnetwork element command line instruction, the auditor 26 processes allof the information associated with that command, at step 104, accordingto the guidelines set out for the particular transport platform inapplicable standards for the particular network element. The parametersevaluated at step 104 are next examined to determine if they are withinexpected ranges at step 106. Parameters that are outside the validranges are flagged as a “Finding”, and written to a findings file forthe network element at step 108, and then proceeds to the next commandline, if any, at step 110. The result of each evaluation is flagged as“OK”, for parameters that are within valid operating ranges, and themethod proceeds to the next command line instruction at step 110. Thisprocess repeats from step 104 for each command line instruction for thenetwork element. When the command line instructions for the particularnetwork element have been exhausted, the auditor 26 determines if thereare more network elements to examine, at step 112, and repeats steps 102to 110 for each network element in turn. Once the auditor 26 determinesthat all of the network element data capture files have been examined,it summarizes all of the findings files and creates a findings summaryfile at step 114.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the following is an example of the operationof the auditor 26 described above for an OC-192 network, such as theS/DMS TransportNode™ OC-192 system of Nortel Networks Limited. Uponprompting by the auditor 26, the user enters the directory locationwhere the network element data files are located and the auditor 26prompts the user to verify that the directory location is correct, asshown at step 200. If the directory location is not correct, the user isprompted to re-enter the directory location and verification is againrequested. If the user replies affirmatively, the auditor 26 retrievesthe network element data file from directory at step 202 and determinesif a file located in the directory location specified by the user is avalid SONET network element data capture file, or some other unrelatedfile at step 204. This is done by, for example, examining the outputstored in the CLUI eq ne qrne output, which accesses the cardconfiguration within the shelf inventory of the network element.Although the network element may identified as a valid type, theconfiguration of the cards in the network element shelf may have beenchanged by the customer. The auditor 26 therefore uses the cards listedin the network element's shelf inventory to confirm the networkelement's functionality. For example, if the network element isidentified as a regenerator, then the shelf inventory will be queried todetermine if a circuit pack of type Rgn exists. If it is found to be anunrelated file, the auditor 26 ignores it and proceeds to retrieve thenext network element data file. If the file is a valid network elementdata file, the utility then opens and reads the file at step 206.

The network auditor 26 then creates, at step 208, a findings file forthe network element being examined. The evaluation results of theparameters collected from the network element data file are subsequentlywritten to this findings file. While reading the network element datafile, the auditor 26 determines if the line read is a valid networkelement user interface command. If the line read is a valid commandline, the auditor 26 calls the subroutine associated with thatparticular command line instruction, and processes all of theinformation associated with that command according to the guidelines setout by the network audit specification for the particular transportplatform, and determines which parameters are within valid operatingranges, as shown at steps 210 and 212. The result of the evaluation isflagged as “OK”, for parameters that are within valid operating ranges,or “Finding”, for parameters that are outside the valid ranges describedand is written to the respective findings file at step 214.

After completing the analysis of the network element's capturedoperational data, the auditor 26 continues to open, read, evaluate andwrite the status of the results of the evaluation to the respectivefinding files for each of the network elements in the directoryspecified by the user. The auditor 26 determines whether all of thenetwork element data files have been examined and if they have not,steps 202 to 212 are repeated. Once the auditor 26 determines that allof the network element data files have been examined, it creates afindings summary file at step 216.

The findings summary file is created by the auditor 26 opening each ofthe finding files created for the network elements evaluated, anddetermining if the status of the evaluation is listed as either “OK” ora “Finding”. If the status of the evaluation is listed as “OK”, theauditor 26 ignores this reported evaluation. If the status of theevaluation is listed as a “Finding”, the evaluation result is copied tothe finding summary file along with the data from the network elementdata file that shows the invalid parameter in-situ.

Once the auditor 26 has summarized the findings reported in each of thenetwork element finding files, it closes the finding summary file, atstep 218, and prompts the user, at step 220, to continue or terminatethe audit. If the user indicates that be or she is finished using theauditor 26, the program is terminated. If the user indicates that he orshe wants to continue using the auditor 26, the auditor 26 prompts theuser to supply the location of the directory where the next set ofnetwork element data files are located and returns to step 200.

A typical summary findings report for a single network element, NE30063, is shown at Appendix “A”. As will be understood by those of skillin the art, a full summary findings report can include findings for anumber of network elements, and can run to many pages. Typically, thesummary findings report is displayed on an appropriate computer monitor,saved to a text file, and/or printed out as a hardcopy. The particularformat of the summary findings report depends on the needs of the user.A graphical representation the summary findings report, as opposed to,or as a supplement to, the illustrated textual report, is also fullywithin the contemplation of the inventors. Such a graphicalrepresentation would provide the user with a visual identification ofmalfunctioning network elements, and could use colours or otherindicators to identify particular invalid operational parameters.

Briefly, the illustrated summary findings report includes anidentification of the network element in question, including, forexample, its address and location within the network, and then displayseach finding for the network element, as determined by the auditor 26.The display of the finding includes details of the invalid operationalparameters detected for the finding, and a finding status thatsummarizes the detected error condition and provides an indication ofthe expected valid operational range for the given operationalparameter. For example, looking at the first page of Appendix “A”, thefinding status for a first operational parameter morf pwrm disptpgll redis displayed as “LOS threshold value −20 is not 3 to 4 dB below thetotal input power value −11.9 and is invalid”. The details of thefinding are presented in tabular form, as appropriate to the particularoperational parameter. Findings for each flagged operational parameterare presented, in turn, in the report.

As will be understood by those of skill in the art, the auditor of thepresent invention permits users, such as product support personnel andfield support personnel, to quickly generate an audit report for anetwork. The comprehensive nature of the report, as well as the factthat only findings for network elements that have an identifiedabnormality are presented, means that a user can quickly pinpointproblem areas in the network, and, due to the organized and uniformmanner in which the information is presented, likely determine the rootcause of the problems. The present auditor can also be used to screennetworks prior to reconfigurations or upgrades to permit deficiencies tobe corrected prior to the reconfiguration. In this way, it is morelikely that any network reconfiguration will proceed smoothly.

In tests on data capture files for an OC-192 network, the auditor of thepresent invention has been found capable of analyzing a single networkelement in less than seven seconds. This is compared to an average offorty minutes that it would take an experienced engineer to analyze thesame operational data to determine if the element is working withinestablished operational bounds. Thus the present auditor provides anearly 350 times performance increase, and eliminates human error.

The auditor of the present invention can also be used for trainingpurposes to permit users to become familiar with the operation of anetwork and to see the types of problems that can occur.

The auditor can also, if desired, be incorporated with other networksystem tools, such as a network plotter, to provide a comprehensivepackage for network management.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended tobe examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may beeffected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the artwithout departing from the scope of the invention, which is definedsolely by the claims appended hereto.

APPENDIX A Example Summary findings report NETWORK AUDIT FINDING SUMMARY***** 30063 ***** 30063 ***** 30063 ***** 30063 ***** 30063 ***** 30063***** Status: Finding - OPC server address is undefined. Status:Finding - OPC server directory value undefined is invalid. NE 30063>showserver Server Address: undefined Server Directory: undefined Status:Finding - LOS threshold value −20 is not 3 to 4 dB below the total inputpower value −11.9 and is invalid. NE 30063> morf pwrm disptp g11 redShelf: 2   Slot: 12   Unit. MOR G11 Red Band (1547.50-1561.00 nm)Current (Last) Power Measurements dBm % (dBm %) Input Red Power −12.9 78(− −) Reflected Blue Power −19.3 18 (− −) Input OSC Power −25.7 4 (− −)Total Input Power −11.9 100 (− −) Output Red Power 10.2 93 (− −) OutputOSC Power −0.7 7 (− −) Input Blue Power −13.1 87 (− −) Reflected RedPower −21.7 12 (− −) Reflected OSC Power −32.7 1 (− −) Total Input Power−12.5 100 (− −) Total Output Power 10.3 100 (− 100) Input LOS Threshold= −20 dBm Input Shut-off Threshold = −26 dBm Blue Input/Red OutputOptical Reflectometer = Enabled Last saved at 00:00  00/00/00 Press CRto return to menu Status: Finding - LOS threshold value −20 is not 3 to4 dB below the total input power value −11.3 and is invalid. NE30063>morf pwrm disptp g12 red Shelf: 2   Slot: 13   Unit: MOR G12 RedBand (1547.50-1561.00 nm) Current (Last) Power Measurements dBm % (dBm%) Shelf: 2   Slot: 13   Unit: MOR G12 Blue Band (1528.40-1542.50 nm)Current (Last) Power Measurements dBm % (dBm %) Input Blue Power −14.085 (− −) Reflected Red Power −21.9 14 (− −) Reflected OSC Power −33.0 1(− −) Total Input Power −13.3 100 (− −) Total Output Power 10.6 100 (−100) Input LOS Threshold = −20 dBm Input Shut-off Threshold = −26 dBmBlue Input/Red Output Optical Reflectometer = Enabled Last saved at00:00 00/00/00 Press CR to return to menu Status: Finding - Save value00:00 00/00/00 invalid. NE 30063> morf pwrm dispch g11 red Shelf: 2  Slot: 12   Unit: MOR G11 Red Band (1547.50-1561.00 nm) Shelf: 2  Slot: 12   Unit: MOR G11 Blue Band (1528.40-1542.50 nm) Input PowerOutput Power Current (Last) Current (Last) Ch Tx - Wavelength dBm % (dBm%) dBm % (dBm %) 1 OC-192 −13.3 82 (− −) 10.1 95 (− −) DWDMTx 1533.472 - − − (− −) − − (− −) 3 - − − (− −) − − (− −) 4 - − − (− −) − − (− −)OSC − − (− −) − − (− −) Reflected Red −21.7 12 (− −) Reflected OSC −32.81 (− −) Residual −25.6 5 (− −) −2.5 5 (− −) Total −12.5 100 (− −) 10.3100 (− −) Last saved at 00:00 00/00/00 Press CR to return to menuStatus: Finding - Save value 00:00 00/00/00 invalid. NE 30063> morf pwrmdispch g12 red Shelf: 2   Slot: 13   Unit: MOR G12 NE 30063> morf pwrmdispch g12 blue Shelf: 2   Slot: 13   Unit: MOR G12 Blue Band(1528.40-1542.50 nm) Input Power Output Power Current (Last) Current(Last) Ch Tx - Wavelength dBm % (dBm %) dBm % (dBm %) 1 OC-192 −14.4 78(− −) 10.2 91 (− −) DWDMTx 1533.47 2 - − − (− −) − − (− −) 3 - − − (− −)− − (− −) 4 - − − (− −) − − (− −) OSC − − (− −) − − (− −) Reflected Red−21.9 14 (− −) Reflected OSC −33.0 1 (− −) Residual −25.2 7 (− −) 0.3 9(− −) Total −13.4 100 (− −) 10.6 100 (− −) Last saved at 00:00 00/00/00Press CR to return to menu Status: Finding - Current saved hour 00:00and current saved date 00/00/00 are invalid. Status: Finding - Lastsaved hour 00:00 and last saved date 00/00/00 are invalid. OpticalReflectometer Red In/Blue Out Blue In/Red Out Current (Last) Current(Last) Output Optical Return Loss 30.4 dB (−dB) 32.1 dB (−dB) OpticalReturn Loss 24 dB 24 dB Threshold Optical Reflectometer State EnabledEnabled Last Saved at 00:00 00/00/00 00:00 00/00/00 Press CR to returnto menu Status: Finding - Alarm log record created in the last 48 hours.NE 30063> ad 11r EQP* Type Date Time Count Description EQP421 01/03/9913/57/44 5 Card Insert EQP422 01/03/99 13/52/57 3 Card Remove EQP40101/03/99 13/37/36 20 Create/Delete EQP403 00/00/00 00/00/00 0 DataChange EQP501 00/00/00 00/00/00 0 CPG Primary state change EQP32300/00/00 00/00/00 0 INFO Protection Activity EQP410 05/05/99 05/05/55 66Audit Report EQP411 00/00/00 00/00/00 0 Audit Report EQP405 00/00/0000/00/00 0 EQP MX protection exerciser result EQP616 00/00/00 00/00/00 0Reconfiguration Operation Success EQP316 00/00/00 00/00/00 0Reconfiguration Operation Failed 5 Entry to 20 ppm freerun On On 6Filler card missing On Off 7 Autoprovisioning mismatch On On 8 DuplicateNE name On On 9 Duplicate NE ID On On 10 NE approval required On On 11Number of level 1 NEs exceeded On On 12 MI port intrusion attempt On On13 LCAP port intrusion attempt On On 14 Serial number inconsistency OnOn 15 Mismatched switch types On On 16 Shelf autoprovisioning mismatchOn On 17 MX exerciser fail On On 18 Manual area address dropped fromarea On On 19 PM day MS/line/RS/section threshold On On 20 PM 15 minMS/line/RS/section threshold On On 21 PM 15 min path threshold On On 22PM day path threshold On On 23 PM physical TCA On On 24 Protection pathfail On On 25 Fan 1 fail On On 26 Fan 2 fail On On 27 Fan 3 fail On On28 High shelf temperature On On 29 Low shelf voltage On On 30 Fan 1missing On On 31 Fan 2 missing On On 32 Fan 3 missing On On 33 Breakerfilter A fail On On

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of auditing an optical communicationsnetwork to determine operational states of network elements, comprising:(i) retrieving operational data from a plurality of network elements;(ii) evaluating the operational data to determine an operationalparameter for a given network element; (iii) determining if theoperational parameter is invalid by comparing the operational parameterwith a corresponding predetermined operational specification for thegiven network element and flagging the invalid operational parameter;(iv) repeating steps (ii) and (iii) for remaining operational parametersspecified for the given network element; (v) repeating steps (ii) to(iv) for each of the plurality of network elements; and (vi) generatinga findings report for the plurality of network elements, the findingsreport listing any of the plurality of network elements determined tohave at least one invalid operational parameter, displaying details ofthe at least one invalid operational parameter, and providing a findingstatus for the at least one invalid operational parameter.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein retrieving the data includes polling theplurality of network elements via a serial connection.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein retrieving the data includes readingstatic data capture files.
 4. The method according to claim 1, whereinevaluating the operational data includes processing a network interfacecommand line for the given network element.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein determining if the operational parameter is invalidincludes determining that the operational parameter is outsidepredetermined valid operating ranges.
 6. A method of auditing asynchronous optical network to identify malfunctioning network elements,comprising: a) entering a directory location for network element datafiles; b) retrieving a network element data file for a given networkelement from the directory location; c) verifying that the networkelement data file is valid; d) opening the network element data file andreading a network interface command line; e) verifying that the networkinterface command line is valid; f) processing the network interfacecommand line to determine if operational parameters for the givennetwork element are outside valid predetermined operating ranges bycomparing each operational parameter with a corresponding predeterminedoperational specification for the given network element; g) creating anetwork element findings file for findings of operational parametersthat are outside said valid predetermined operating ranges; h) repeatingsteps a) to g) for all network element data files in said network tocreate a findings file for each network element; and (i) creating asummary findings file and writing said network element findings files tothe summary findings file to provide a report listing any of theplurality of network elements determined to have findings, displayingdetails of the findings, and providing a finding status for eachfinding.
 7. A computer program product for auditing an opticalcommunications network to determine operational states of networkelements, comprising: a computer-useable medium; a data capture modulestored on the computer-useable medium for retrieving operational datafrom a plurality of network elements via a serial connection, and forstoring the operational data in data capture files; an evaluation modulecommunicatively coupled to the data capture module for evaluating theoperational data to determine operational parameters for the pluralityof network elements, for determining if the determined operationalparameters are invalid by comparing each operational parameter with acorresponding predetermined operational specification for the givennetwork element, and for flagging the invalid operational parameters;and a reporting module communicatively coupled to the evaluation modulefor generating a findings report for the plurality of network elements,the findings report listing any of the plurality of network elementsdetermined to have at least one invalid operational parameter,displaying details of the at least one invalid operational parameter,and providing a finding status for the at least one invalid operationalparameter.
 8. The computer program product according to claim 7, whereinthe data capture module includes means for polling the plurality ofnetwork elements by modem connection.
 9. The computer program productaccording to claim 7, wherein the data capture module includes means forreading static data capture files.
 10. The computer program productaccording to claim 7, wherein the evaluation module includes means forprocessing network interface command lines for each of the plurality ofnetwork elements.
 11. The computer program product according to claim 7,wherein the evaluation module includes means for comparing theoperational parameters to predetermined valid operating ranges.
 12. Acomputer program product residing on a computer-useable medium forauditing a synchronous optical network to identify malfunctioningnetwork elements, comprising: means for entering a directory locationfor network element date files; means for retrieving a network elementdata file for a given network element from the directory location; meansfor verifying that the network element data file is valid; means foropening the network element data file and reading a network interfacecommand line; means for verifying that the network interface commandline is valid; means for processing the network interface command lineto determine if operational parameters for the given network element areoutside valid predetermined operating ranges by comparing eachoperational parameter with a corresponding predetermined operationalspecification for the given network element; means for creating anetwork element findings file for findings of operational parametersthat are outside said valid predetermined operating ranges; means forcreating a summary findings file and writing network element findingsfiles for each of the plurality of network elements to said summaryfindings file to provide a report listing any of the plurality ofnetwork elements determined to have findings, displaying details of thefindings, and providing a finding status for each finding.
 13. Anauditor for auditing an optical communications network to determineoperational states of network elements, comprising: a serial connectionfor communicating with a plurality of network elements in an opticalcommunications network; a data capture module for retrieving operationaldata from the plurality of network elements via the modem, and forstoring the operational data in data capture files; an evaluation modulefor evaluating the operational data to determine operational parametersfor the plurality of network elements, for determining if the determinedoperational parameters are invalid by comparing each operationalparameter with a corresponding predetermined operational specificationfor the given network element, and for flagging the invalid operationalparameters; and a reporting module for generating a findings report forthe plurality of network elements, the findings report listing any ofthe plurality of network elements determined to have at least oneinvalid operational parameter, displaying details of the at least oneinvalid operational parameter, and providing a finding status for the atleast one invalid operational parameter.
 14. The auditor according toclaim 13, wherein the data capture module includes polling means forpolling the plurality of network elements.
 15. The auditor according toclaim 13, wherein the evaluation module includes means for processingnetwork interface command lines for each of the plurality of networkelements.
 16. The auditor according to claim 13, wherein evaluationmodule includes means for comparing the operational parameters topredetermined valid operating ranges.